Selecting components

It is now time to pick and order parts for my keyboard. Having talked to some friends, felt around some mechanical keyboards and using the T440 keyboard as a inspiration I decided I want to build a 75% compact layout with tactile switches and generally try to make it as quiet as possible.

After recommendation from a colleague, I decided to go with the following components:

• KBDFANS KBD75 keyboard
  • Compact TKL layout: has F1-F12 and arrow keys
  • CNC milled aluminum case
  • Opted for an aluminum plate due to reading they have better acoustics for a silent keyboard
• KBDFANS DSA Dye-sub PBT keycaps
  • Uniform keycaps so that it easy to move around keycaps, also low profile to reduce height of keyboard
• Gateron/KBDFANS Aliaz 70g silent tactile switches
  • 70g is supposed to be the approximate weight of Thinkpad switches
• Case-to-PCB foam and PCB-to-plate foam to minimize reverb
• Some individually colored DSA keycaps to make it more fun from Signature Plastics (also to compare quality since Signature Plastics are considered very high quality)